Lesser Evils

2016-06-11T22:44:06+05:00

After the controversy surrounding the appointment of an unqualified donor of the Clinton Foundation on to a sensitive government advisory board in 2011, the Hillary emails continue to shock the American public, this time for the initiation of a criminal probe after emails between American diplomats in Pakistan and Washington were seen to be exchanged.

The Pakistan-drone link to the whole equation, the emails of which are still deemed too classified by the State Department to release to the general public might prove to be Clinton’s undoing, for any indictment would end her hopes of competing in the presidential race. These emails were most definitely sent from Clinton’s aides to her private server at home, even though she has stuck to her original statement and claimed that none of the mails transferred were ever “marked” classified. That is a lame excuse, and it is obvious that the content within is what matters, and not the label under which the email is sent. If state secrets were even unintentionally leaked to a person without security clearance, Ms Clinton will have much to answer for.

Legally speaking, the frontrunner for the Democratic party in the presidential race has definitely committed a crime if any emails were destroyed, because it is a violation of federal records law to remove or destroy any official material. As of this point, the US State Department cannot wholly rule out the possibility of any correspondence being deleted either, which puts Clinton’s story in tumultuous waters.

And even if the world takes Ms Clinton’s word for it, and admits that no crime was committed, is the American public going to accept a President that cannot even be tight-lipped about important national security matters?

It is highly unfortunate that a global superpower and the perceived bastion of democracy in the world has a bigot and a controversial ex-Secretary of State battling for one of the biggest seats of power on the globe. The bi-partisan US presidential election system is riddled with intrinsic flaws, from problems in the electoral college to shady campaign funding deals that influence a candidate’s policies. The US voter, much like their counterparts in Pakistan, looks at the election in absolutes. In 2008, it was about voting for change, and the first African-American President. Sadly, Obama has not been seen by the experts as the driving force they hoped he would be. And this year, America might just see its first female President too in November. But these milestones do not mean a thing on their own, and while Ms Clinton may be the lesser evil, not much can be expected of her, if her track record is anything to go by.